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Range Report Which 7mm

Jedi

Jedi

Team AndiCapp
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 10, 2003
137
8
Mountains
I am determined to build a 7, it will be on a long action
my contenders thus far are
7-338 Norma
7-375R
7 dakota

I have zero interest in belted cases

Overall the 7 dakota fits my needs, no necking down or messing with dies
As a COTS solution the 7 dakato works pert good

Anything else i should be considering?
 
depends on how fast you want to burn out the barrel

.280AI will give excellent performance and longer barrel life.

The following SA cartridges benefit from a LA, allowing you to seat the 175 to 180 grain pill farther out of the case:
.284 or .284 shehane
7-300 wsm
 
Looking for case cap of 90-100gr

The short mags and 284 fall short of my performance goals

and i really dont want to be messing with brass to much or custom dies

7dakota seems closest fit thus far

Thou in discussing with others it appears the 7-375R will yield similar fps at a lower cost, as dakota brass is $$

need to ck $$ of brass n dies and go from there
 
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Why limit yourself to cartridges that only offer one source for brass? Do any offer substantial gains over say the 7mm Rem mag or STW to justify the trouble?
 
Nortex said:
Why limit yourself to cartridges that only offer one source for brass? Do any offer substantial gains over say the 7mm Rem mag or STW to justify the trouble?
Click to expand...

Nope, but no belted cases. 7mm Rem Mag is one of the best ELR cartridges out there imo, unless you're going to a 338 or 375.

But remember, no belted cases.
 
Gun Works 7 Lrm basically a 7x375 Rugar but with a super long neck. You won't get the a very long neck by just necking down the 375. The have brass made by hornady not cheep I believe they quoted me 1.25 a peace. The have dies already made and if you don't wont them to do the work they have reamors for sale as well. They clam 180 Berger over 72gr of H1000 @3100 in a 26 tube. Weather it will do it or not I don't know. But it looks capable and with the long neck you could shoot a variety of bullets and some clam it doesn't wear the throat as fast.
 
Fig turbo would pop in as this is our fav subject

i currently shoot a single source case, 6.5x47 and have done for 5yrs or so. I normally buy 300-500 bits of brass at start of project
so not bothered by single source
I am however not a fan of belted mags and headspacing off belt
Others that hold an interest
7 boo boo
7-338 norma AI, blowing the neck forward and sharpening to 30/40', that would yield additional case cap but not really needed

Ideally case cap around 90gr would be about perfect, increasing beyond 100gr becomes detrimental to barrel life
Pushing the shoulder on 375R would be straight forward, and dies are already available.
 
IMHO the 338Norma is a better solution than 338L

yields same performance from shorter case

Off shelf 7 dakota if your willing to stomach brass $$
Same performance half the cost, 7-375. Depends on how much ass ache necking down and shoving shoulder back envolves
I,m hoping that the GunWerk dies can be used as push dies on standard brass, having done same thing with 243AI die on 243 brass thinking it should work
 
338 and 300 Norma are beautiful (looking) cartridges - but I've zero experience.

Tom Sarver claims Norma copied his 300 Hulk for them.

Seems like a 7mm-338 Norma would provide you the case capacity you're looking for, excellent brass, a short/compact/efficient cartridge, and relatively easy brassprep that ought to only involve a necksizing and (maybe) neckturn.
 
And yes, talking wildcats is one of my favorite subjects - especially when they're 7s, though I've no use for a 7 with this much capacity.
 
Jedi said:
I am determined to build a 7, it will be on a long action
my contenders thus far are
7-338 Norma
7-375R
7 dakota

I have zero interest in belted cases

Overall the 7 dakota fits my needs, no necking down or messing with dies
As a COTS solution the 7 dakato works pert good

Anything else i should be considering?
Click to expand...

Any update on what you decided on
 
I have 2 different 7 Dakotas (one is mag fed the other a single shot for F-Class use). Each runs a Berger 180 Hybred @ 3,200fps from a 32" tube (same custom reamer so the brass is interchangeable) with Retumbo. I've shot it at 2,000 yards (elev. 2,900 ft) and she is still supersonic. The brass is $$$$ and, in my opinion, not the hardest brass.... but serviceable.

For the cost of the Dakota brass, I would potentially consider a 338 Ultramag necked down to 7mm. (more capacity than the Dakota, but slightly less than the 300 Ultramag). I see no need to step up to the 100+ grain H2O capacities 338LM or 338 Norma Magnum necked to 7mm (I built one and walked away from it). 3,300fps is certainly reachable w/ 338 Ultramag. I'm not sure the gain of 100 fps to 3,400 fps is worth the additional powder burn once you get to these velocities.

Jeffvn
 
280 Rem, period. Better than the .30-'06 for anchoring game, does more with less bullet weight and recoil. Why burn up 90gr of powder (and a bunch of bore throat) when less than 60gr will put a cork in just about anything you chose to shoot?

Greg
 
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How much case difference is there between the 7Lrm and the 7mm Dakota? And what's the price difference for the brass?
 
Greg Langelius * said:
280 Rem, period. Better than the .30-'06 for anchoring game, does more with less bullet weight and recoil. why burn up 90gr of powder (and a bunch of bore throat) when less than 60gr will put a cork in just about anything you chose to shoot?

Greg
Click to expand...

Because Jedi wants to push the envelope past the point of diminishing returns...

280/280ai are awesome - but they're *just* at the point where more powder doesn't get you much more performance. Great value (2850-2900 from a 180 berger), but they still leave a lot of performance on the table.
 
Wait until the 26 nosler comes out, then neck that sum beach up. I bet it will do what you want. Just a thought.
 
Jedi said:
I am determined to build a 7, it will be on a long action
my contenders thus far are
7-338 Norma
7-375R
7 dakota

I have zero interest in belted cases

Overall the 7 dakota fits my needs, no necking down or messing with dies
As a COTS solution the 7 dakato works pert good

Anything else i should be considering?
Click to expand...
7 WSM
7-300 WSM
7 SAUM
284

How fast do you want to go? With what bullet size?
 
I could just buy a mag bolt for my Defiance Mutant action and run same platform via 7SAUM, i do like SAUM much
 
Looks to me like the 7mm RUM will suit your bill without having to form brass. With any of the 7mm cases with this type of case capacity, the fps return is a diminishing figure at a certain point. I have been shooting the 7mm RUM since 2001, and while I really like this round for long range, rounds like the 7mm WSM or SAUM will typically fill most peoples bill and do it with less powder. The only way a 100 gr capacity round is going to benefit is if you shoot some custom 200gr + bullets.
 
82.5 per QL
shoot me a PM i can email ya case diagram if needed

FYI
7WSM case cap is 81.10 per QL

But the neck on the 7wsm is kinda short, hence 7-270wsm or 7-300wsm
 
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